Stargazing Lecture

Stargazing is dependent on clear weather, but lecture and Q&A happen regardless. Event will occur in-person, with lecture and Q&A additionally live-streamed on YouTube.

For remote viewers, the event will be live-streamed here:
https://www.youtube.com/live/7cnN62osaUA

8:00–8:45 p.m. - Public Lecture
8:45–9:45 p.m. - Panel Q&A and Guided Stargazing

Caltech is developing the world's most powerful radio telescope, the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA). Construction will begin in 2026 in a remote radio-quiet valley in Nevada. 1,650 dishes, each 20-ft (6.15m) in diameter will be deployed across a 12.5 x 10 mile area. Signals will be transmitted via underground fiber-optic cables and combined in a central supercomputer, or "radio camera," that will process data at a rate of 200 Tb/s, comparable to the total internet traffic in the United States. This unprecedented capability will produce a movie of the changing sky as seen through radio waves. It will enable the detection of one billion new radio sources, a hundred times more than all previous radio telescopes combined. The DSA-2000 is expected to drive discoveries across radio astronomy, including identifying exotic neutron stars, mapping the cosmic web, tracking the formation and evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes over cosmic time, and detecting the stretching and squeezing of the very fabric of the Universe.


About the Series

Stargazing Lectures are free lectures at a public level followed by a Q&A panel and guided stargazing with telescopes (weather permitting). All events are held at the Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Caltech and are free and open to all. No reservations are needed. Lectures are 30 minutes; stargazing and panel Q&A last 60 minutes. Stay only as long as you want.

Stargazing is only possible with clear skies, but the lecture and panel Q&A take place regardless of weather.

For directions, weather updates, and more information, please visit: http://outreach.astro.caltech.edu.